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Amazon's Kindle source code: Much ado about nothing

by
brett
Contributions
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Published on
Nov 30, 2011 09:19 PM

This week there's been a lot of fuss about Amazon releasing source code for software on its Kindle devices, including the Kindle Fire. A lot of the hype we've seen is simply unwarranted; while you can download the source code that Amazon was legally required to publish, most of the software on the device remains proprietary, and every Kindle is still Defective by Design.

Much of the confusion apparently stems from the fact that the Kindle
Fire's operating system is based on Android. Google releases Android
source code to the public under the Apache License, a free software,
non-copyleft license. Android devices for sale typically include some
nonfree software as well, but this source code is enough to build a
fully-featured free operating system. The Replicant project
proves it, by building completely free systems for several different
Android devices.

When Amazon released source code for the Android-based Kindle Fire,
some writers apparently assumed the release would mirror what Google
publishes. It does not. Amazon has only published source code for
software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and
Lesser General Public License (LGPL). Both of these licenses
require Amazon to make this source code available, as a condition of
distributing covered software on the Kindle Fire. Amazon has merely
met this particular legal obligation, and gone no further. None of
the source code Amazon has released is unique to Android, and it
certainly doesn't include any of Amazon's modifications to the Android
user interface.

Releasing this minimal source code also leaves Amazon's Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM) tightly intact. The proprietary
software on Kindles still works to prevent people from copying or
sharing the books and other media they buy. This source code might
make it a little easier for enterprising hackers to install completely
new software on the devices and opt out of the DRM entirely—but
nobody should have to make such Herculean efforts just to exercise the
kinds of rights they'd normally have with printed books. The better
way to opt out of these draconian restrictions is to refuse to
buy a Kindle at all. Everything we've said in the past about how
Kindles are Defective by Design remains true today.

If Amazon really wants to make a splash, they should abandon their DRM
and make all the software on the Kindle free software. That would let
people use their devices and media as they see fit, and represent real
change from the company. This source code release is nothing of the
sort; it's merely routine legal compliance (the same thing they've been doing since they first released the Kindle), and not newsworthy.